Going Back
by Hartosquaredbig
Summary: When Elise unexpectedly returns to Camp Takota the next summer, she is reunited with Maxine and finds that Allison has returned as well. With Max busy running the camp, Elise spends more and more time with Al and as the summer progresses they find themselves trying to navigate the treacherous waters that have become their relationship. *Elison* -Title is a work in progress-
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- Ah it's been so long since I've used that I forgot how involved it could be. Also I forgot how organized this thing was like whoa. So, hi! **

Elise sat on the beach, her legs stretched out in front of her. Her notebook was in her lap as well as a pen but she didn't seem to be able to write a word. So, she looked out across the water, savoring the peace and quiet. It was so rare for her to have down time these days that now she didn't really know how to use it. No one knew she was there. Not just at the lake but no one knew she was at Takota or that she was coming this summer at all, even Maxine had no idea. Camp didn't officially start until tomorrow and Elise intended to enjoy these last few hours to herself before someone found her.

When she'd arrived, she could hear Maxine yelling at someone who was no doubt a new counselor and while she couldn't wait to see her best friend, she really didn't want to answer any questions about why she was there just yet. So, Elise had left her stuff in the car and quickly made her way down to the lake. As she sat there, she heard a noise behind her. Someone was there.

"Elise?" That wasn't what she was expecting. There was no mistaking that voice for anyone else's, "Elise!" The voice yelled this time and she heard the sound of little sneakers running towards her before small arms wrapped around her neck and oversized glasses pushed into the back of her head, "You're here! I missed you so much!"

"Hi Penny! I missed you too, kid."

"Max said you weren't coming."

"I know. I'm surprising her. Can you let go of my neck please? You're choking me."

"Oops." The little girl sat next to her and placed her backpack in between them. She pulled out two DS's and handed one to Elise.

"Thanks. So, who else is here?" The blonde said as she opened up the device and started playing.

"Ummm… Max and Chet and Allison and—"

"Al's here?" Elise interrupted. She thought for sure that her other best friend would have been too busy at culinary school to come to camp that summer.

"Yeah. She's making us tater tots tonight. She said I can help her make cookies later! Do you wanna make cookies with us?"

"I would. That sounds great!"

"When are you and Allison gonna kiss?" Penny asked out of the blue after a few moments of silent gaming.

Elise felt her heart stop at the question. That wasn't anywhere close to what she expected the seven year old to say. A year ago she was planning her wedding. Six months ago she was kicking her boyfriend out of book signings. And now she was single again. She'd decided with Eli that the relationship wasn't working and while they were still friends and went out for drinks sometimes, they would never be together romantically again. And Allison, Allison was her best friend. Anyway, they were coworkers now. It would be totally inappropriate to be in a relationship while camp was going on. _But, Max and Chet… No._ Inappropriate.

"Penny!" Elise scolded, elbowing the little girl in the ribs, "Me and Al will not be kissing."

"Why? I think she likes you."

"It's not that easy."

"Do you not like her?" Penny persisted.

"I don't want to talk about it right now. It's complicated."

"I read your book! It was really good! Are you gonna sign it for me?"

"Ummm…" Elise was taken aback by the sudden change in topic, "Duh!"

She reached over and started tickling the little girl who squirmed and shrieked with laughter. She stopped when she heard someone calling Penny's name. Both girls immediately recognized Maxine's loud voice. Before Elise got a chance to hide, the redhead emerged from the trees.

"Penny! I told you to—" Maxine stopped in her tracks when she saw her best friend sitting alongside the little brunette, "El?"

"Surprise?" Elise said. It sounded more like a question than an exclamation. She stood up, ran over to Maxine and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I thought you weren't coming this summer!" The redhead said looking her up and down as they pulled apart.

"I wasn't but stuff happened. Stuff and things. And now I'm here! I missed you so much!"

"Well now that you're here, I'm adding you to the staff. You aren't allowed to just bum around camp all summer. You're gonna have to work."

"I was counting on it."

"Okay. Come on Penny! Let's go back up to the cabins and we can help Elise settle in." Elise leaned down and let the little girl climb onto her back. The three of them walked the trail back to camp.

"So, Al's here?" Elise asked, ignoring the subtle poke from Penny at the mention of Allison's name.

"Yeah. She got here yesterday. I wasn't expecting her but she emailed me a few weeks ago asking if she could come and I wasn't about to complain about it. Her cooking was good before but I mean it's amazing now. Her tater tots recipe is on point."

"Well I can't wait to try them." Moments later they arrived at the cabins. Elise moved to put Penny down so she could go get her bags from the car but the little girl grabbed her hair.

"No! Let's go to the mess! We're making cookies remember?"

"Why don't we let her settle in?" Maxine asked, "Anyway I thought you and Al wanted to make cookies by yourselves."

"But that was before I knew Elise was here!" The young brunette refused to get off the blonde's back.

"Max, it's fine. I'll grab my bags later."

"Alright. I have some work to do but you guys have fun!" Both girls waved good-bye as the redhead walked off towards the office. Elise turned in the direction of the mess and grabbed Penny's legs before running at top speeds towards the building. She arrived out of breath at the door with the girl on her back laughing uncontrollably. Elise put Penny on the ground and waited for her laughter to subside.

"Come inside!" Penny grabbed Elise's hand and pulled her up the stairs.

"You go ahead. I'll be in in a minute."

"Okay." The little girl patted her arm, in an attempt to comfort her, and then went inside.

Elise took a deep breath and sat down on the stairs. She put her head in her hands and sighed. Today hadn't exactly been the best day of her life and though she couldn't show it in front of Penny, she was exhausted. She knew that later on in the night, Max would ask her all sorts of questions about Eli and she'd have to say that they'd broken up. And she knew that Allison would be mega-excited to see her but right now she just couldn't return that excitement. So, she contented herself to just sit on the steps and breathe in the fresh air, letting the essence of Camp Takota seep in and fix her mental state.

Eventually she stood up and turned around, opening the door to the kitchen. Inside she could see both Allison and Penny making cookies. Neither of them were looking at her and they seemed very intensely focused on mixing the dough. Elise took another few minutes to compose herself as she listened to Allison rattle on about culinary school, recounting her adventures, or rather misadventures, to the seven year old who was surprisingly interested.

"Mind if I join you?" Elise asked, tentatively. The two brunettes before her turned around and she watched as Allison's face went from confused to surprised to excited before her eyes.

"Elise!" Allison walked up to her and pulled the blonde in for a hug, "I didn't know you were coming."

"Yeah. I wanted to surprise you guys and—uhhhh—I didn't really know either until a few days ago." They pulled apart and Allison just had to look at Elise to see that she didn't want to explain herself at that moment. She looked over at Penny who was looking at them innocently.

"You knew she was here and you didn't tell me!" Allison said, in mock annoyance. She walked over and grabbed the little girl, flipping her upside down. Gently she dropped Penny onto the ground and turned back around to face Elise, "And now to make some cookies." Allison and Penny went back to their previous positions and Elise stood on the opposite side of the table, making the dough into little balls. Allison steered the conversation away from anything of importance that could lead to something they wouldn't want Penny to hear.

As Elise watched the two girls interact across from her she couldn't help but imagine a different scenario in which they were in her kitchen in Chicago. A different little girl was there, similar to Penny but with Allison's blue eyes. Allison was flicking the dough at the little girl and when Elise came into the room the shorter woman walked over and kissed her.

_Wait. What?_ _Kissed her? _Elise mentally slapped herself for thinking about her best friend like that. She was straight as far as Allison knew and they were coworkers and to add to that Elise was a hot mess. A relationship was out of the question with Allison or anyone else for now. Elise stopped making the dough balls, she needed to remove herself from the situation for a bit.

"I'm go unwind in the cabin for a bit and I need to move my stuff in before it gets dark so I think I'm gonna skip dinner tonight. Ummm, Al, I'll see you later?"

"Yeah dude."

"Good night Penny. I'll see you tomorrow morning for drop-off okay?"

"G'night!" The little girl waved furiously as Elise walked out. It was already getting dark so she walked out to her car and grabbed her bags. This year she had actual bags instead of trashbags. She shoved the suitcase under her bed and lay on top of the covers. Exhausted, she fell right to sleep, knowing that Maxine would wake her up in a few hours anyway.

**A/N- Did you like that? I'm not sure how I feel at this point. I felt like it was all over the place...?  
But anyway, welcome to if you haven't been here yet. I know lots of you are planning on making the move from Tumblr to here so yay for expansion! These will still go on Tumblr though so no worries if you don't like this site.  
Feel free to leave a review or don't, whatever you'd like. Byeeeeeee!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- Sorry it took forever guys! But it's here now! Enjoy!**

"El? El! Get up!" Elise slowly opened her eyes to see Maxine standing next to the bed. Allison was standing in the doorway to the room and the blonde couldn't help but wish for a second that it was the shorter woman who'd woken her, "Come on. You gotta eat dinner. Al made some really good stuff that I can't pronounce."

"Who are you my mother?" Elise grumbled, putting her pillow over her head.

"No I'm your camp director."

"I think I'm gonna skip it. I'm tired."

"Fine. You're missing out." Maxine walked right out of the room, brushing past Allison who was still standing in the doorway. The shorter woman then approached the bed.

"Come on El. We haven't seen each other in months. Please get up."

As much as Elise didn't want to get up, she did what the other girl said. Allison had always had some sort of hold over the blonde. She could make her do things when no one else could. Elise, who famously didn't listen to anyone, would do anything Allison asked. When they were younger, it was no big deal. She just listened to her best friend and did things for her. But now, as an adult, Elise found herself thinking more and more about what she would do for Allison and she wondered if it was healthy to be willing to go that far for another human.

"It's a miracle. Allison you've raised the dead." Maxine joked when the two girls emerged from the bedroom.

"Shut up." Elise responded, taking care to make sure that her voice contained the perfect balance of resentment and playfulness, "If there's no grown-up juice here I'm going back to bed." They took their seats at an island in the middle of the kitchen. Allison produced food and tequila.

"So, El, how long were you at the lake before Penny found you?" Maxine asked finally.

"Not long." The redhead looked at her dubiously and Elise could feel Allison's blue eyes on her and she found that she couldn't lie to them, "A few hours. It really wasn't that big a deal."

"How many is a few?"

"Like four."

"Okay. Do you want to tell me why you sat outside for four hours?" Elise didn't respond right away. She opted to take a bite of the sandwich Allison had made. The other two waited for her to speak.

"I—ummm—I just needed some quiet time." Elise purposely kept her answer vague, not wanting to accidentally reveal anything about how she had begun to feel for her shorter friend.

"Alright. Did Eli come as well? We need some veggies." The blonde was grateful for Allison's change of topic but not so grateful that she turned the conversation to an equally difficult one.

"He said he was coming but that was a pretty long time ago. He may have changed his mind. He and I aren't—uhhhh—together anymore." Elise looked down and her hands and twisted a friendship bracelet around her wrist. She could feel Maxine shifting beside her and the next thing she knew, the redhead's arms were tightly wrapped around her body. Elise felt guilty when she realized that the hug she craved came from the other woman sitting across from her.

"You okay? What happened?" Maxine asked when she finally let go.

"Uhmmm—yeah. I'm good. It just wasn't working. And we talked about it and decided to break up together. And that's it really." Elise took a deep breath and managed to look up to meet Allison's eyes, "Can we talk about something else please?"

"Course. How's school been Al?" Maxine asked, changing the topic. Allison, excitedly began to recount her stories about culinary school. Eventually the three girls moved to the couch to continue talking. She talked for a while and then the conversation shifted to Maxine's teaching. Somewhere in the conversation, Elise fell asleep. This time no one woke her.

The next morning Elise woke up to the sound of the camp alarm. She slowly sat up. She was still on the couch. Someone had covered her with a blanket and placed Tylenol on the little coffee table along with a glass of water and a note.

_Elise—_

_Good morning! (or afternoon) Max thinks that you should take a day to yourself today. You're pretty bad at hiding when you're feeling shitty. So, relax, read, swim. sleep… Take the Tylenol's I left out. Oh and come see me in the mess for eating and for therapeutic carrot cutting._

_—Al_

Elise smiled at the note and downed the pills. She contemplated briefly taking Allison up on her offer of therapeutic carrot chopping but she quickly put it out of her mind. Being alone with Allison was not going to help her situation. Instead she put on sneakers, shorts, and a Camp Takota t-shirt and decided to go for a run, hoping that it would clear her mind.

When Elise emerged from the cabin, she took care to avoid any areas that would be crowded with campers. She wasn't exactly eager to explain to the kids that she'd been benched by Maxine because of her mental status. She ran on the path through the woods. Soon after someone came up beside her, also jogging. It was Eli, he had obviously had the same idea.

"Hey stranger." He said, pulling out his headphones.

"Hi." Elise gave him a small smile. Honestly of all the people who she could have run into, she was glad it was Eli.

"I didn't know you were coming."

"Neither did I." The answer was short but Eli knew the blonde well enough to know when something was bothering her.

"Ummm... Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Things are great."

"Then why aren't you finger painting or making bracelets or something campy?"

"Max thought that I needed a day to myself." Elise sped up, hoping to dissuade any more questions but Eli matched her pace.

"She's worried then." He observed. Maxine would never just give a counselor time off unless she was really concerned.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Should she be worried?" Elise took a deep breath to give herself more time to choose the right words. She didn't want to lie to Eli but she also really couldn't deal with him prying right then.

"No. I don't think so." She finally answered and she felt like that was at least a half-truth. Perhaps Max thought she should be worried but Elise didn't think so.

"Well, I'm worried."

"Can you just stop please?" Elise snapped, "We're not together anymore! You're not my boyfriend! It's none of your business so just stop! Go run somewhere else!" They stopped running but Eli stayed standing beside the blonde. He knew that she wasn't really upset with him. Tentatively, he placed a hand on her shoulder and then moved it down to her back, rubbing gently in small comforting circles, "Sorry. That wasn't—you're just trying to help. I didn't mean to push you away."

"It's alright. What's really going on?" He expected Elise to have brushed his hand off of her by now but she hadn't so Eli continued rubbing. The girl didn't say anything, she just looked down at the ground so he took the initiative, "Is it Allison?" Elise nodded slightly, keeping her gaze on her shoes, "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Okay. Well, I'm always a few _flashlight_ flashes away if you wanna talk. No judgment." Eli emphasized the word flashlight, hoping to earn a smile from the blonde beside him but she didn't even look up, just making a small noise that indicated understanding.

Eli used the hand already on her back to draw her in to his body for a hug. He loosely wrapped his arms around her, so that she could easily pull away if she wanted to. Eventually she did pull away but not before she spent a few minutes resting her head on his chest. Somehow to Elise, this didn't feel too intimate, maybe because she knew that they were just friends. Which left her wondering when Eli rose to the same level of friendship that she held Maxine at?

She stepped away from his body and smiled widely, it was genuine for the first time that day, "I bet I'm still faster than you."

"Yeah right. You live in the city. You haven't been properly running in months."

"Fine. Race you to the dock!" The two took off running down the narrow path and for the first time that summer she really felt like she was back.

**A/N- I hope you liked it! I'll be putting it up on Tumblr in a bit. Review!**


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